FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is PalWiFi?

People contribute their home internet service to the community to share and receive free WiFi.

PalWiFi is free. Membership is free.

Is there a cost for using PalWiFi?

No. The PalWiFi community sharing service is free for all members of the trusted community.

How do I sign up for a membership?

You can become a member by downloading the PalWiFi App. The App is free. You can create an account in the trusted community by using your email address. Or, you can simply create an account using your Facebook or Google+ account.

How does the PalWiFi membership work?

Membership in the community is free.

Every member contributes a home guest network to the community to share. There is a 30-day grace period to allow new members to add their home guest network to the PalWiFi trusted community. After 30-days, if a member has not shared a home network to the community for sharing, then, the system will turn off active membership status, which, will prevent the member from being able to receive free wifi from the community shared hotspots. Share your WiFi in order to receive free WiFi. Help us grow the commmunity!

How do I save money by joining PalWiFi Community?

When out of your home, and using PalWiFi, you will avoid data usage on your smartphone data plan. You can buy smaller data plans for each member of your family.

Skype, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Viber, and Snapchat services let you talk on the phone and text with almost anyone for free. Use free WiFi and talk and text on these apps.

Why do I have to create an account and sign in to use the PalWiFi App?

At PalWiFi, we care about your cyber security and the cyber security protection of the community. Everyone is a host and everyone is a guest on a community hotspot. We are a collection of hotspots that make up an online community that benefits all of us. We self-govern and self-moderate our community. We care about our community.

The internet has always been a collection of networks (autonomous systems) that work collaboratively to share network traffic and self-govern ourselves. There will always be opportunities for abuse on the internet. We hope to reduce the risk of abuse by having our members self-identify and self-moderate our community.

Do I have to share my home Internet to be a member of PalWiFi?

Yes. Sharing your home Internet is a requirement to join the PalWiFi Community. Contribute your unused home Internet capacity to share and receive free WiFi when you are out-of-home.

We will validate each member by ensuring that everyone contributes a broadband connection to the community. Any type of broadband is fine - Cable, or DSL, or Fiber.

Do I use my current router?

Yes. With PalWiFi Sharing App, you continue to use your existing router, and contribute your guest network to the PalWiFi trusted community. When sharing your guest network, your password is kept secure in our cloud. Other PalWiFi members do not see your password when connecting to your guest network.

Does PalWiFi work with any broadband Internet connection?

Yes, PalWiFi members can contribute any broadband internet service to the trusted community - cable modem, DSL, or Fiber.

Will sharing slow down my home’s private Internet service?

It is unlikely that occasional PalWiFi guests using the guest network on your home network will cause your home’s internet service to slow down. If your network is slow, there may be other issues with your home network.

What is the difference between the blue pins and the red pins on the Find WiFi map?

The blue pins are member PalWiFi community member contributed hotspots. Trusted Community members have added those hotspots with their shared network passwords.

The red pins are potentially open hotspots discovered by you and fellow wifi users. They may or may not work. Some require a username and password to be entered in a browser. Some may require a user to accept the terms of service by the provider of the hotspot. And some may require a certificate that only certain customers of certain ISP's can gain access. And some are just open hotspots without any data protections.